Learning and teaching support at QUT

During my time at QUT I also had a meeting with Judith Peacock, the manager of the section/group for Study & Learning Support, that is under the Associate Director for Client Services & Learning Support.

And since I haven't posted the organisational chart of QUT Library yet, I provide the link to it here (unfortunately I couldn't save it as an image):

https://www.library.qut.edu.au/about/management/documents/ORG_LibReportingStructure_20160525_FIN.pdf
I myself very much like that the library has one section for Information Resources and Research Support and one for Client Services & Learning Support. So the "centralised" teams working on and developing these services collaborate with the liaison or discipline librarians. I think that would be the best organisational structure for my/our library as well.


The Learning and Study Support Manager's working areas are services and support for information literacy (information/research skills) and academic literacy (academic/study skills). Among others, the manager coordinates strategic, administrative and operational facets of the Library’s learning services and initiatives to create learning support for students. The areas encompass frontline (desk) and professional consultation services, physical and virtual learning programmes,
The manager is also in charge of supporting / facilitating embedded curriculum development and learning design, and that is done in collaboration with Liaison Librarians, Academic Skills Advisers and faculty staff. That means at the beginning of every semester the manager and the liaison librarians come together, look at data from last semester and then develop new courses/services.

The Study & Learning Support is organised as a triage model. 
On the first level there are library advisers working on/at the library helpdesk. They are trained to answer simple research questions and give IT help (like how to install Eduroam etc). In fact, all people serving at the helpdesks have been through the same professional development in order to ensure that all users get the same high level service. If the library advisers can't answer a question, they refer users to either liaison librarians, academic skills advisers or to other services (like when people are depressed or have a disability).
On the second level there are liaison librarians and academic skills advisers who provide a service called "study solutions". Study Solutions gives individual assistance with writing an assignment, managing time, finding information for assignments, organising group work, referencing and citing, preparing for exams.
On the third level the liaison librarians and academic skills advisers provide special services. That means the liaison librarians give research support to high degree research students and staff and work together with faculty. While the academic skills advisers support students (one to one) who face huge challenges.

The library also offers online resources to support its services. Key online learning resources are:

• Studywell: http://studywell.library.qut.edu.au/
• QUT cite|write: http://www.citewrite.qut.edu.au/
• Study Smart (online tutorial): http://studysmart.library.qut.edu.au/
• AIRS online: http://airs.library.qut.edu.au/

Unfortunately some people at the university got the idea to change this well-working model again, that means in the future academic skills advisers won't be part of the liaison teams anymore and the structure of study&learning support will change.
That really is a shame, because how can you distinguish between information literacy problems and academic skills problems? These two are so connected.

One of the most interesting documents for me or us at NTNU is QUT's Information Literacy Framework & Syllabus and the Information Literacy Strategies.
The Library uses QUT's Information Literacy Framework and Syllabus to guide the ongoing development and delivery of information literacy embedded within curricula.
The Information Literacy Framework and Syllabus also facilitates the development of criterion referenced assessment (CRA) in acquisition and attainment of information skills.

Everyone teaching information literacy skills - mainly my colleagues at NTNU University Library - should have a look at these great documents:

• QUT Information Literacy Framework
• QUT Information Literacy Syllabus
• Information literacy strategies
• Criterion referenced assessment

Look at this website for access to the various documents: https://www.library.qut.edu.au/about/management/literacy/framework.jsp


I also think we (at NTNU) should work out similar documents. In fact, we could do this for the whole country. Or maybe UHR-B's working group for learning support services could do that???